


A Leverage Take on Magnificence

by JewellTrim



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Leverage Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9498641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JewellTrim/pseuds/JewellTrim
Summary: So I watched the show Leverage and noticed some similarity between the two groups and wondered what would it be like if the boys were criminals.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Disclaimer. I'm not profiting from anything. The characters and plot belong to their rightful owners. Please don't sue me. Thank you.
> 
> So for those who have seen both leverage and mag7, you be able to see how some of these characters are similar. I basically switched the characters, because I like to think of the boys having a bad side with their rough potential to be good.

This is an alternate version of the series Leverage told with the Magnificent Seven characters. I don't own leverage or magnificent seven.

 

CHRIS-NATE  
BUCK-ELLIOT  
JD-HARDISON  
EZRA-SOPHIE  
VIN-PARKER

Chris Larabee:  
Ex-Insurance Investigator.

Chris was sitting by himself at a hotel bar drinking when a man of a short and sturdy stature approached him.  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Larabee. I know who you are and I’ve read about you.” Chris frowned down at the man who tried to get comfortable and take the seat next to him. “I know for example that when you found that stolen Monet painting in Florence you probably saved your company what 20-25 million dollars. Then that identity- theft thing, you saved your insurance company I don’t even know how many millions of dollars. But I just, uh, know that when you needed them…” The man trailed off for a second and shook his head sympathetically, “What happened to your family is the kind of thing-”  
Chris slammed his glass on the bar table and whipped around on the shorter man, “You know this part of this conversation where I punch you in the neck, 9 or 10 times? We’re coming up on that pretty quick.”  
“I just want to offer you a job.”  
“What do you got?”  
The man leaned a little towards Chris, “Do you know anything about airplane design?”  
Chris shrugged, “Give it a shot. You know, give me a pencil and one of those little rulers.”  
“Somebody stole my airplane designs.” Interrupted the man.  
Chris nodded, now understanding what the man wanted, “Oh, I see, and you’d like me to find them, right?”  
The man shook his head, “No, I know where they are.” Chris turned back to his drink, no longer interested. “I want you to steal them back.” The man finished.  
Chris set his drink down that he was about to take and looked at the man to see if he was serious.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Travis Aviation:  
Four people walked up to each other outside of a tall building holding their employer’s information. They met up directly across before three headed towards it. The last man turned and walked into the building directly behind him.

Chris set up his laptop and the rest of his gear before standing up to look outside the window of the twentieth floor where he set up shop.  
He recalled the conversation he had with the man who had hired him.  
“You’re sure Travis stole your designs?” He had asked.  
The man looked a little bit more desperate now, “Oh look, my engineer goes missing. Disappears with all my files. Then one week later, Travis announces an identical project. Come on.”  
Chris sighed, “I don’t know. Stealing them back, it seems like a stupid risk. There’s other ways.”  
“L-L-Listen to me.” Stammered the man, “At the end of this month, I have a shareholder’s meeting that’s important. I’ve spent, already, five years, $100 million in R&D, and I go to that meeting with nothing to show for it. Then. I. Am. Dead.”  
Chris leaned back in his chair, still not sure if it was worth getting involved. The man could see he was losing him.  
“Look, I-I’m serious.” He scrambled with some files he had brought, “Look. Look at the people I’ve already hired. Do you recognize any of these names?”  
Chris pulled out one of the files and looked at the names. He frowned, “Yeah, I’ve chased all of them one time or anot-- Tanner. You have Tanner?” Chris asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“Is there somebody better?” Asked the man feeling confident in his choice.  
“No, but Tanner is dangerous.” Chris said as he looked at the man to see if he was serious.  
“Which is why I need you.”   
Chris chuckled, “No.” He wasn’t suicidal. Yet. “I’m not a thief.” He handed the file back over.  
“Thieves, I got.” said the man, “I just need one honest man to watch them”

Chris knew that he was going to regret this later on down his life as he finished loading his computer of the building’s layout. He shook his head.  
“It’s not gonna work. These-- these people you hired, they all have the same rep. They work alone. They always work alone. There’s no exceptions, and there’s no way they’re gonna work for you.”  
“No, they will. They will. For $300,000 each, they will. For you, for running it, it’s double that. And-- and it’s off the books, completely off the books.” Chris shook his head, “Look at me. I’m desperate here.” The man said wiping his mouth with his hand nervously. “That’s just the salary. There’s a bonus. Travis is insured by I.Y.S.-- your old bosses. It’s a $50 million intellectual property rights policy.” Chris stared off to the side thinking. “Mr Larabee, how badly do you want to screw the insurance company that let your son die?”  
That got Chris’ attention. 

“Okay, clear comms.” Chris instructed the thieves.

JD Dunne:  
Internet and computer fraud.  
“No. No, no, no, no, no. No, hell no.” JD said as he shook his head In disgust, “This equipment is total VH1, dude. It’s ‘best of the ‘80s.’ I got something nicer.”  
Chris sighed, he was already having difficulties, “All right. No surprises now.” He warned.  
“I’ve been doing this since high school, dude. I’m captain discipline.” JD grinned mischievously as he thought back to what happened five years ago.

Two hotel employees were walking to a room, “They came straight from the airport to their room.” Explained one of the men.  
“So you never actually saw any of them, then.”  
“But the-- the credit card numbers checked out.” said the man, trying to defend himself.  
“Break it down!” Yelled the manager.  
Two hotel security guards burst through the doors to find three women in Princess Leia’s outfit from Star Wars. Two of them were playing with light sabers. A young man barely twenty was seated on a recliner watching them with a I liter of orange pop.  
“Does that look like Mick Jagger to you?” Asked the head of the hotel to the other man.  
JD waved his hand as if he was using the force, “This is not the room you’re looking for.” He said as if he could really control their minds.

JD smiled and went back to his work on the roof of the building with the other thieves. He looked at the comm ear pieces again, “It’s a bone-conduction earpiece mike. It works off the vibrations in your jaw.” He handed one of them to Buck who took it and placed it in his right ear. “You can hear everything.” He whispered playfully.  
Buck pulled it back out of his ear and looked at it critically, “You’re not as useless as you look.”  
JD looked over his shoulder and shook his head, “I don’t even know what you do.” He snuffed.  
Buck only smiled as he thought back to his job three years ago.

Buck Wilmington:  
Retrieval Specialist

He had been in Belgrade, Serbia to retrieve a piece for the person who hired him. It was located in a little cafe where a mean looking man was carrying it.  
Buck walked into the bar where the man and his nine men were seated. He sipped his coffee as several of them stood up as he got close.  
“I’m here to collect the merchandise.” Buck said coolly.  
All nine of the the men now stood and pulled their guns out, pointed them at Buck who still remained calm. He took a sip of his coffee.  
After about two minutes, they were all down. Dozens of shots had been fired, but Buck was still left untouched. He stood in front of the main man who was still seated, looking frightened at the man in front of him who was still calm. Buck took another sip of his coffee.  
The man slowly pulled the baseball card, that was still in its case, out and set it on the table. Buck smiled.

As he readjusted his black hat on his head, Vin swung upside down from above them, “Can I have one? he asked.  
“You can have the whole box.” JD said, a little scared but still fascinated by the man that hung from beside him.  
“Word is that you still live with your mom.” Said Buck, trying to tease JD.  
JD only chuckled, “Age of the geek, man. We run the world.”  
“Mm-hm. You keep telling yourself that.” Said Buck as he walked away from them.   
Vin swung himself back up into a sitting position so he could better put in his earpiece.

Vin Tanner:  
Security Circum  
Infiltration and alter.  
Thief

Vin thought back to his step-father who used to beat his mother nineteen years ago. He stood there stone-faced while his step-father waved his stuffed animal around.  
“You thought I wouldn’t find this?” He asked, “You don’t get bunny until you do what I say.”  
His mother was holding herself, crying silently behind the man.  
The old man pointed his finger at Vin, “So be a good boy.” He turned to go but then stopped and turned around, Or, I don’t know a better thief.” He waved the stuffed animal around before disappearing in the back room.  
His mother shouted after him but Vin rose his young eyebrows at the challenge.  
Vin closed the door behind him, taking his stuffed animal with him. His mother was at work and wouldn’t be coming back till later. She would have to understand.  
He walked away from the house and stopped to wait at the sidewalk. The explosion from the house erupted and he smiled in satisfaction. The old drunk had been asleep in the back room. No longer would his mother or his stuffed animal have to suffer that man’s drunken stupors.  
Vin finished placing the piece in his ear, still smiling at saving his mother. He strapped himself into his repelling gear and got ready to jump, “Last time I used this rig? Paris, 2003.”  
Buck ignored him, still eyeing and playing with the earpiece, “Is this thing safe?”  
“Is he talking about the Caravaggio? You stole that?” asked Chris from his place in the other building.  
“Yeah, it’s completely safe.” Said JD, answering Buck’s question, “It’s just, you know, if you experience nausea, weakness in your right side, stroke, strokiness…” JD teased.  
“You’re precisely why I work alone.” Muttered Buck.  
“Guys, listen up. We’re going to go on my count, not a second sooner. Tanner, no freelancing.” Said Chris, preparing himself.  
“Hey, relax. We know what we’re doing.” Buck said.  
“And on the count of five, four--” Chris began counting down, ignoring them.  
“Oh, he doesn’t want to be our pal.” Chuckled JD.  
“We’re on the count--” Chris repeated, “Five, four, three...”  
Just then Vin ran pass Buck and JD towards the edge of the building.  
“He’s gone.” Said Buck.  
“Son of a…” Chris wanted to curse.  
Vin jumped off the edge with a cry. JD and Buck ran after him and watched from the edge as he glided down smoothly, but with great speed.  
Chris watched with his binoculars as the form of Vin fell and came to a stop finally.  
“That’s 20 pounds of crazy in a 5- pound bag.” Murmured Buck.

Vin hung upside down and looked inside the window he was at.  
“Vibration detectors are on.” He reported.  
Chris lowered his binoculars, “No cutting, Tanner. Use the binary.”

While those two busied themselves with the window, Buck and JD went and dropped a couple of bags down an opening in the roof that led to the elevators.

Vin used the binary to cut a hole in the glass. The liquid giving off a low hissing sound. He then removed the glass and let it fall to where it did below. He slipped into the hole and disconnected himself from the repel line. He did a slow back flip onto the table and then another to descend the desk gracefully he had entered on. A pencil rolled to the edge, but he caught it before it could fall to the ground. He smiled confidently and made his way to the electronics room where he could tap into the elevators.  
Buck and JD landed on the top of the elevator four and waited for Vin. Vin worked silently as he stripped wires and began hotwiring the elevator.  
“You know, Tanner, anytime you want to--” began Buck, but he was cut off before he could finish his complaint.   
“Whoa.” Jumped JD as the elevator began to descend rapidly.  
“The boys are on their way.” Vin reported.  
“What are you getting with security?” Asked Chris, pacing the floor as he listened in, “You see security?”  
Vin began working and pulled up a live stream of the security sitting in front of the cameras. Vin smiled, “They don’t see a thing.”  
The elevator finally came to a stop.  
“Doors open.” Vin said as he worked.  
“Alright, guys, it’s show time. Here we go.” Said Chris, watching the video stream of what was going on.

Buck and JD walked quickly through the halls until they finally found the door they were looking for.  
“Here.” Said Buck.  
“Got it.” JD said as he set his bag down and began cracking the door.  
The two looked around both sides of the hall to make sure they were completely alone.  
“Okay, you got any chatter on their frequencies?” Asked Chris.  
“No.” Said Vin, “Why?”  
“There’s eight listed on the duty roster, and there’s only four at the guard post.”  
“I can’t even tell how many guys are in the room. How can you tell who’s who?” Asked Vin, frowning at his screen.  
“Haircuts, Tanner. Count the haircuts.”  
“‘I would have missed that.” Vin whispered to himself.  
“What?” Asked Chris.  
“Nothing.”  
“Problem?” Asked Buck, waiting behind JD who was still working.  
“Uh… Maybe. Run row cameras.” Said Chris.  
“10-digit password? I salute you, sir.” Grinned JD.  
Vin began running the cameras to find the guards, “Got them. They’re doing their walk-through an hour early. Why the--”  
“Because it’s the playoffs.” Answered Chris, reminding himself that he’d be missing it. “Yeah. Game five of the playoffs. They’re doing their rounds an hour early so they can watch the playoffs. Alright, where are they?”  
“They’re at the stairwell.”  
“Okay.” Said Chris, looking at his blueprints again.

The security guards were talking amongst themselves when one spotted an open door. “Hey, got a security breach. Get them on the radio upstairs. Go! Go!”

“Okay, guys, here’s what we got to do. We got to squelch them.” Chris instructed.  
Vin began typing on his little keyboard.  
The comms on the guards began to scream in their radios. The security at the camera feeds turn their side down so as not to pick up the back feed.  
“Buck, what I want you to do is clear the zone, and use JD as bait.” instructed Chris.  
Buck silently followed orders, taking off his jacket, getting ready. JD looked up from his job on the door, “Bait? Hold up, hold up. Wait a minute. They ain’t talking about me. I ain’t nobody’s bait.” He smacked his device, trying to get it to go faster, “Come on, baby. Come on work for me, baby. Come on.”  
He could hear footsteps coming and he was now alone in the hall.  
“Dunne, they’re almost there.” Vin warned him from the comms.  
“Come on, baby. Come on. Just come on, man.” JD pleaded.  
With a sigh, he decided to just leave it, not wanting to be caught. “Forget it.”  
He grabbed his bag and as he stood back up, the four security guards stood there in front of him with their guns pointed at him.  
“Hold it right there.” Said one of the men.  
JD put his hands up with the bag still in one hand.  
Behind the security guards, Buck walked silently behind them.  
JD dropped his bag, and Buck began punching the two security. That he was closest to. He swept the legs out from one of them while he smacked the hand of the third man who tried to turn around and shoot him. Punching that guy in the face and still holding the first guy, he punched the guy in the throat. The fourth guy he kicked him and the guy fell face first in a sink that was for some reason full. The last man who he swept kicked, tried to come up from behind. Buck elbowed him in his abdomen and slammed his fist into his face. One more guard was still standing, but was soon down with two breaks in his arm.  
All of this took place before JD’s bag hit the ground. When it did, Buck was standing there still calm. JD just stared at him.  
Buck took the magazine out of a gun he had taken and tossed it, “That’s what I do.” Buck smiled.  
JD nodded, a newfound respect for the man he was with. The device JD had abandoned beeped to say it was finished and the door opened. JD looked back it and then to Buck and grinned.  
Inside the room was a lot of flashing green lights to Buck, but JD was grinning from ear to ear as he chuckled.  
“Guys, guys, you got to talk to me, okay? Cause I don’t know what’s going on.” Said Chris, still pacing the floor.  
“It’s all good. I’m stripping the drives right now.” Said JD.  
Buck laid down the last of the guards in the little room and threw the bag over his shoulder they had brought with them.  
“Got all the designs, got all the backup.” JD said triumphantly, holding the drive in his hand. “We’re leaving this cupboard bare.”  
“Drop the spike.” Chris ordered.  
JD finished typing on the computer and the flashing lights all began to go out.  
“Did you give them a virus?” Asked Buck.  
“Dude, I gave them more than one virus.” JD chuckled.  
The two thieves began making their way back to the route they came in when they heard Vin on the comms.  
“Problem, those guards you tanked, they reset all the alarms on the roof and all the floors above us. We can’t go up”  
“Every man for himself, dude.” said Buck ready to bolt.  
“Go ahead. I’m the one with the merchandise.” JD pointed out.  
“Yeah, well I’m the one with an exit.” Said Vin over comms.  
“And I’m the one with a plan.” Chris finished, “Now I know you children don’t play well with others, but I need you to hold it together for exactly seven more minutes. Now get to the elevator and head down. We’re going to the burn scam.”  
Buck and JD nodded and began heading to the elevator.  
The doors opened and they both got inside and began changing Clothes.  
“Going to plan B?” Asked JD.  
“Technically, that would be plan ‘G’. “  
The elevators opened again and Vin stepped into the elevator and began to strip.  
“How many plans do we have? Is there, like, a plan ‘M’?”  
“Yeah. JD dies in plan ‘M’.” Chris deadpanned.  
“I like plan ‘M’.” Buck said from his side of the elevator. JD slowly turned and threw a ‘really?’ Face at the back of the other man.

The elevator bell dings, signaling the people at the front desk that it was still active.  
“I thought we locked down those elevators.” frowned one of the guards. He walked around the desk and waited for the doors to open. He had his hand resting on his gun, just in case.  
Vin tried to finish placing the fake skin on JD’s face. The younger man had looked down as Buck wrapped a leg brace around his leg.  
“Hey, stay still. Stay still. Don’t move.” Vin instructed.  
The elevator doors finally opened and JD stepped out first with one leg wrapped and was supporting himself with a walking cane.  
The guard moved his hand away from his gun, and covered it back up with his jacket.  
Buck and Vin, who were wearing suits supported JD from the sides as they walked towards the door. Buck looked up at the guard, his eyes hidden behind a pair of nice glasses.  
“Nice.” Buck growled. “Why don’t you stare a little more?”  
“Sorry.” stammered the guard, backing up a little.  
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Buck continued to fume.  
“No, bro, it’s okay.” JD said, faking pain as he walked with his limp.  
“No, it’s not.” Vin sent the guard a glare.  
“Sorry, sorry.” repeated the guard as he walked alongside them to escort them to the door.  
“I understand.” sniffed JD.  
“Look what you did. Feel good about that?” snarled Buck.

Chris pulled the car up in front of the building and watched as the guard opened the door for them as Buck continued to be upset and JD continued to grunt in pain.   
They waited until the guard’s back was turned and they were safely outside before they quickly made their way over to the awaiting car. JD tossed the walking cane to Vin who caught it easily and hopped into the front seat. Buck took the seat behind Chris while Vin slid in behind JD. They drove off to a nearby park to complete the transfer of the documents to their employer.  
“Oh, come on. It’s only taking you all night. Come on.” Chris said impatiently. His hands were dug deep in his pockets and his coat collar pulled up to protect him from the cold wind.  
“I-- I got a couple Wi-Fi networks but some crappy bandwidth.” JD said as he continued to work on his laptop. “There you go.” He looked up, “The designs are sent.”  
“All right, all right.” Chris said, pulling out a hand from his pocket, “The money will be in all your accounts later today.”  
Vin nodded, satisfied with that.  
“Anybody else notice how hard we rocked last night?” JD grinned in enthusiasm.  
“Yeah, well, one show only. No encores.” Buck murmured, beginning to pace a little.  
“I had already forgot your names.” Vin shrugged.  
“It was kind of cool being on the same side.” JD added.  
“No, we are not on the same side.” Chris argued, “I am not a thief.”  
“You are now.” Vin grinned, “Come on, cowboy. Tell the truth. Didn’t you have a little bit of fun playing the black horse instead of the white knight? Just this once?”  
Chris didn’t say anything, but just turned and walked away. The others all turned and did the same. They all went in different directions.

 

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

Chris woke up to the sound of his cell phone going off. He knocked over the two bottles of alcohol he had near his phone trying to reach it. Sitting up, he answered the phone.  
“Yeah?” he grunted.  
“You screwed me!” yelled Royal, “The designs never got to me.”

The little man walked quickly through his offices, looking around every so often.

“No, I watched them go out.” Chris assured, running his hands through his hair.

“I don’t know what you saw, but I received nothing.”  
“Look, I told you, you couldn’t trust them.” He didn’t understand why he was getting yelled at for. It was Royal who trusted a bunch of criminals with his plans.

“I--it wasn’t my job to trust anybody. That’s what you were here for. I’m freezing the payments. I am freezing all the payments.”

“All right, look, look, look.” Chris said, trying to think of something. “I will come over there right now. We’ll straighten this out--”

“No, no, no, no. Do not come here. My company has an old aircraft facility outside the city and I will text you the address. And you be there in one hour.” He hung up before Chris could respond and picked up his coffee and took a sip. His eyes looking around still.

 

Chris sighed, and drops his phone on his bed. He was regretting taking this job which he thought was so easy at first. Now it was blowing up in his face.

Chris arrived at the factory that was from the address sent to him. It was still filled with old working supplies, but besides that, he couldn’t see any signs of Royal. It was also pretty dark which made things hard to see. Then he heard a familiar voice. It sounded like Dunne.  
“You want to tell me what happened to the designs?” JD said accusingly.  
“What makes you think I know what happened?” Buck scoffed. “Idiot.”  
Chris came around the corner and found JD holding a gun that was pointed at Buck’s face. Buck just stood there with his hands ins his pockets.  
“Forget you, dude. You did it.” JD insisted. “Okay, we were coming down from the elevator.”  
“Yeah, that makes sense, doesn’t it? You had the file every second.”  
“Hold up, Bucklin. I did my part. I transferred the files. What did you do?”  
“Get that gun out of my face.” Buck warned.  
“Hey!” Chris yelled to get their attention as he made his presence known to the two. If he could guess, Tanner was nearby too. Just waiting to make his appearance.  
JD pointed the gun towards Chris now. Chris however walked towards them, regardless of the weapon.  
“Did you do it? He asked the two of them.  
“You’re the only one that’s ever played both sides.” Buck argued Chris’s question.  
“Yeah, and you seem pretty relaxed for a guy with a gun pointed at him.”  
Buck looked back at JD. “Safety’s on.”  
“Like I’m gonna fall for that.” JD huffed.  
“No, no, actually, he’s right. The safety is on.” Chris agreed. Buck looked at his in confusion before he saw what he did there. It made JD doubt himself and made him check. Chris took the opportunity to pull the gun out of his hand smoothly.  
“Give me that.” He muttered. It was like dealing with children. Chris looked back to Buck, “Are you armed?”  
Buck shook his head.  
Chris wasn’t sure to believe that or not.  
“I don’t like guns.”  
The sound of a gun cock made Chris turn around and point the gun towards Vin who was holding one of his own at Larabee.  
“My money’s not in my account. That makes me cry inside, in my special angry place.”  
Vin stood with the rest of them, but with the gun pointed to the ceiling. He wasn’t going to kill any of them until he found out why he didn’t get his money and then he’d rectify that situation.  
“Okay, Tanner.” Chris said and pulled the gun out of his hand. Vin let him take it begrudgingly. He turned to the rest of them. “Now, would you come here to get paid?”  
“Hell no. Transfer of funds, dude. Global economy.” JD spat.  
“Supposed to be a walk away. I’m never supposed to see you again.” Buck grumbled.  
It suddenly all clicked for Chris. “And the only reason you guys are here is because you didn’t get paid—” Chris began to laugh at the irony, “—and you’re pissed off, right?” He continued to laugh while the others grumbled.  
JD crossed his arms, “Jerk.”  
“I mean, matter of fact, the only way to get all in the same place at the same time is to tell us that we not—getting— paid.”  
The realization suddenly clicked for all of them, that this was a complete set up.  
They all ran to get out of the building as fast as they could. There were stairs leading to the outside, and JD tripped trying to climb them. Buck pulled him by his jacket to get him back up, and the two ran together. Chris opened the door for them and they all crawled under the rising door. They all left the building just before it all exploded and they group all flew in the air before falling on the hard blacktop. 

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Chris opened his eyes and looked towards his hand which was handcuffed to the hospital bed he was on. He let out a groan and dropped back down on the pillow.  
Buck, who was chained to a chair in the corner smiled at him. He was relieved to find the man was still alive. Larabee had saved them all.  
“You don’t like hospitals.” Buck stated the obvious, he played with his fingers absentmindedly.  
Chris found his energy again and sat up to look around the room.  
“Not much.” He muttered.  
“It’s about time.” Came Vin’s voice from the vent that connected the two rooms. Chris looked up, surprised that Tanner knew he was awake.  
“What the—”  
“Cops and firemen got there just as we were waking up.” Vin filled in. He was pacing the room he was sharing with JD. Vin had already picked the lock on his set of handcuffs, while JD was still confined to his on the bed.  
“Where are we?” Chris asked, trying to get his bearings.  
“We’re at the county hospital.” JD answered. “Local cops, they responded to the explosion.” He pointed at his handcuffs in a silent request for Vin to get him out of his, but Tanner ignored him.  
“Have we been processed?” Chris asked. He looked over to Buck who had stopped playing with his fingers long enough to hold up an ink stained hand that marked all his fingers and thumb.  
Chris looked at his own hand. They too were inked.  
“They faxed our prints to the state police.” Buck informed.  
“Yo, if the staties run us, dude, we’re screwed.” JD sighed.  
“How long?” Vin asked.  
“30, 35 minutes, depending on the software.” JD shrugged.  
Buck dropped his hands into his lap, “They printed us 20 minutes ago. So unless we get out of here in the next 10 minutes, we all go to jail.”  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right.” Chris murmured, trying to think of something.  
“I can take these cops.” Buck offered.  
“Don’t you dare. You kill anyone, you screw up my getaway.” Vin hissed.  
“Hang on. I’m still handcuffed here. I can’t even go to the bathroom. I got to go.” JD said, pointing at his still cuffed wrist.  
“Tanner, get me a phone.” Chris ordered. “What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna get out of here together.”  
“This was a one-time deal.” Buck reminded him.  
“Look guys, here’s your problem. You all know what you can do. I know what all you can do. So that gives me the edge. It gives me the plan.”  
“I don’t trust these guys.” Vin shook his head.  
“Do you trust me?” Chris asked.  
“Of course.” Buck smiled, “You’re an honest man.”  
“Tanner. Phone.”  
Vin rolled his eyes, “This is gonna suck.” Sticking his hand into his mouth, he made himself throw up.  
JD shifted on his bed so he could look away, “Oh, hell no.”

 

A doctor came into check up on Vin to see what was wrong. A couple of nurses came to help clean up.  
“The nausea could mean a concussion.” The doctor said. “If you feel any more effects or blurred vision, tell the policeman right away.”  
Tanner nodded and the handcuffs were put back on his wrist before the officer stepped back out of the room.  
Vin showed JD the phone he had managed to swipe while JD showed the one he had gotten. One was an old flip phone and they swapped them. Vin picked the lock of his handcuff and gave the key to the cuffs to JD who took them eagerly. Tanner climbed to the top of his bed under the vent and pushed the flip phone through it to the other room.  
“Chris.” He whispered.  
Chris caught the phone. “I got it.” He turned to Buck, “So, the trick is to give them what they want. They’re expecting a phone call, right?”  
He tossed the phone to Buck who caught it.

Outside of the rooms a nurse came around the corner. “There’s an outside call for you. Line 2.”

JD began working his magic. He took a photo of himself and began typing.

“This is Deputy Quince.” Said the officer.  
“Yeah, this is Detective Lieutenant Vick with the Illinois State Police.” Said Buck. “We got those prints that you sent us. Uh, the problem I have is they’re sending up all kinds of red flags. I’ve got somebody on the phone for you from the FBI down there in Washington. Can you hold son?”  
“Yes sir?” said the officer, standing a bit straighter.  
JD finished up what he was doing a sent it to the hospital. “Come on. There it goes.”

Buck tossed the phone over to Chris who caught it. “Yeah, Deputy Quince, this is Deputy Director Matthews, uh, FBI. Yes, is our man all right?”  
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow—” stammered the officer.  
“Deputy, listen to me, the man that you have inside there is ours, actually. He’s been in deep cover for three years.”  
“Seriously?” the deputy said in disbelief.  
“That’s correct. You should be receiving a fax any moment now, confirming what I’m telling you.”  
Just then another officer ran up with a piece of paper that contained JD’s face.  
“Most of what I’ve told you is classified. I need to know I can trust you. Can I?”  
“Yes, sir.”

Ten minutes later the group was fitted up with a police car for JD to take them all away in handcuffs. Buck was the last one to be pushed towards the car. JD made him hit his head trying to push him in and the man turned and sent a glare towards the younger man with a low growl.  
“Walk it off. Walk— get inside. Get inside.” JD said.  
JD closed the door before turning to the deputy and his men.  
“Men,” he gave a salute that was pretty bad, but the police officers just returned his, “Fills my heart with tears of joy, what you guys do. It does.”  
JD hopped into the front seat of the policer car and drove off. The same nurse from before came out to the deputy.  
“There’s a call for you. The state police.”

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

JD stepped into the room first with the others following him.   
“Four first-class tickets to anywhere but here, coming up.”  
Vin whistled as he looked around. The room was open and huge. “Whose place is this?”  
“It’s mine.” JD grinned.  
“I’m gonna beat Royal so bad even the people that look like him are gonna bleed.” Buck said, looking at his fist in frustration that the man wasn’t already in front of him. He really needed to punch something right now.  
“You won’t get within 100 yards. He knows your face. He knows all our faces.” Vin pointed out as he rested against a wooden beam.  
“He tried to kill us.” Buck growled. No one tried to kill him and got away with it.  
“More importantly, he didn’t pay us.” Vin said, crossing his arms.   
Buck looked at Vin as if he was crazy, his hand shaking ready to straggle the idiot, “How is that more important?” What good was money if you were dead?  
“I take that personally.”   
“There’s something wrong with you.” Buck nodded towards the slender man and sat down.  
“Hey, hey, hey, heads up. Heads up. Look.” JD called their attention.  
He was seated in front of his screens where he had been working.  
“Royal’s story is 90% true. He is the head of Royal Aerospace, big rival of Travis. But check out what my little Webcrawlers coughed up.”  
JD played a video that was recently posted about the stolen plans.  
“We’ve lost research that we’ve been working on for over five years. Our serves have been sabotaged. Now, we’re gonna pursue these perpetrators to the full extent of the law and with all the resources we have at our disposal.”  
Chris turned to the screen with more interest, “Could be a cover story.”  
“Here’s the log of last night’s rip. Internal time stamps on the project. 2012, 2013—they’re way, way down in the code. There’s no reason to fake those, dude.” JD finished, biting his bottom lip.  
“So we didn’t steal the plans back?” asked Buck.  
“No, we were just stealing them.” Vin said dismissively.  
“Why would Royal lie to us?” asked JD in confusion.  
“Because you’re thieves.” Chris said. “If he hired you for a straight-up crime, you’d know he was a bad guy like you. You’d be suspicious. This way, you just saw another citizen in over his head. And that’s why you didn’t see the double cross coming.”  
“And why didn’t you see it coming?” Vin asked the bigger question.  
Yes, why hadn’t he seen it? “Because I’m not a thief.” He gave as a pathetic excuse.  
Buck got up from his seat, “You know what? Maybe that was the problem.”  
JD stepped in front of Buck to calm him down. “I have four tickets to London, Rome, Paris, and San Paulo, all matching the ID’s that you gave me.” He passed them out to Vin and Buck.  
“You’re running.” Chris said, still looking at the screen. He could feel his blood boiling.  
“Yes, sir. You got a better idea?” asked Buck, putting his ticket in his pocket, ready to leave.  
“No, no.” Chris said, bending down in front of the screen, staring at the picture of Royal. “Now, that was a high-risk play. You got your balls tied to the stock price like a cinder block. Shareholder meeting coming up. We can’t let this guy have any time to cool down.”   
The others looked at him in confusion.  
“You want to run a game on this guy. You?”  
Chris rose his eyebrows, “Yeah, I mean, how do you think I got most of my stolen merchandise back? I mean, this guy, he’s greedy, thinks he’s smart. He’s the best kind of mark.”  
Vin smiled, warming up to the idea, “He does think he got rid of us.”  
“Element of surprise.” JD grinned.  
“What’s in it for me? Buck asked, not totally on board with the idea.  
“Payback. And if it goes right, a lot of money.” Chris said as he turned to Buck.  
“What’s in it for me?” asked Vin.  
“A lot of money. And if it goes right, payback.”  
Tanner smiled, satisfied with that answer.  
JD nodded in the background with a smile.  
“JD?” Chris said, turning to look at him next.  
“I was just gonna send 1,000 porno magazines to his office, but, hell yeah, dude, let’s kick him up.”  
“What’s in it for you?” Buck asked, needing to know that he could trust this man.  
Chris thought back to what Royal had said. “He used my son.”  
There was a long pause before Chris came back into attention.   
“All right, let’s go get Standish.” He said before walking off. Vin followed behind him and JD did the same. Buck stood there in confusion.  
“What the hell’s a ‘Standish’?” he asked to the empty room.

 

LLLLLLLLLL

“Come! You spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!” said the actor who was dressed up as lady Macbeth. The man’s hands looked like they were flailing around as he swept across the stage speaking. “Unsex me here!” The man dropped to the ground, the dress pulling around him, “And fill me from the crown to the toe.” The man started by touching his fake crown that he was wearing and then dropped his arms and laid on his side as he gestured to his feet. “Top-full of direst—” Vin’s face was pinched as if he was in pain from listening to the butchered performance. JD’s mouth hung open and his brows were frowning as he stared. “Make thick my blood! Stop up the access and passage to remorse.” Chris mouthed every line as he watched with fascination, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Buck looked mortified and after being told that this was a man performing, he had to take a moment to rethink everything. “That no…” lady Macbeth stopped the motion he was in, his hand still raised with the other covering his groin. Rolling his eyes and closing them, he looked like he was trying to recall his lines, “That no—”  
“He’s very awful.” JD finally said, not holding back what he thought.  
“Is he injured? In the head?” asked Vin, still frowning.  
“Seriously, man. This is the worst actor I’ve ever seen.” Buck murmured to Chris.  
“This is not his stage.” Chris said confidently. He then walked away and the others followed after him.

Outside they waited for the actor to come out of the theater.  
“No. No. I vote no.” Buck insisted.  
“Ah, Tanner’s right. Royal knows us, and we need a fresh face.” Chris said before clapping. He walked up to the man who had been looking through the satchel he was carrying. He looked surprised to see Larabee there.  
“I thought you were great.” Chris said. All things considered since it was a woman’s part. Standish did know how to pull off a dress though.  
Standish gave a smirk and pulled his satchel on before walking up to the blonde.  
“My only fan.” Came a southern drawl.

 

Ezra Standish:  
Grifter

Seven years ago in Paris. Standish was finishing up stealing the last of four famous paintings. The Degas with the ballerinas was last. Just then the door was kicked open and Chris came in.   
“Freeze!” he ordered.  
Ezra released the derringer that was in his sleeve, connected to the rig there. He shot Chris in the shoulder and tried to bolt, but Chris had fired and hit him in the butt.  
Ezra winced in pain and stumbled. Chris righted himself after almost falling from getting shot himself.  
Ezra turned towards Chris, “You ass.” He normally didn’t use foul words because of his upbringing, but if there was ever a time.

“I’m a civilian now, honest.” Ezra flashed his gold tooth.  
“I’m not.”  
“You’re playing my side?” My how things have changed, Standish wondered. He looked towards the other three and then at Chris again, “I always thought you had it in you.”  
Chris chose not to say anything to that. “Are you in?”  
Ezra gave a two fingered salute, “I wouldn’t miss this.”  
Chris turned to the others who had just been standing there. JD and Vin were resting on the car while Buck had his hands in his vest jacket. “All right! Let’s, uh, let’s go break the law just one more time.”  
They piled into the car with Ezra up front this time and JD, Vin, and Buck in the back seat.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

“Guy Royal, executive vice president. In charge of new technology development over at Royal Aerospace. Uh, rich daddy, trust fund, Yale MBA, blah, blah, blah.” JD mumbled off as Buck kicked him trying to step over him with a bottle of beer and a bowl of popcorn.  
They were all back at JD’s place where they made it their temporary headquarters.  
“Guy. Now, when was the last time you met a ‘Guy’?” asked Chris.  
“Vietnam. Town called Ban Houei Xai.” Buck said, distractedly.  
“Chinese border.” Ezra said, looking at the man beside him.  
“That’s an odd thing for you to know.” Buck said, eyeing the new guy suspiciously.  
“That’s an odd place for you to be.” Ezra countered.  
“Now Royal is in charge of all the big, fat government contracts, some department of defense research, very classified stuff.” JD continued with the debrief.  
“Can we use that?” asked Vin, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.  
“No, I don’t think so. Royal is in charge of their commercial airline business.”  
“I know when you sent Royal’s designs, you weren’t supposed to make any copies.” Chris said, looking to JD.  
“No, I promised, and that would be very wrong.” JD said sarcastically.  
“Show me your copies.”  
JD pulled them up on the screen.  
“It’s an airplane.” Buck stated the obvious.  
“That’s a short-haul domestic airliner. Yeah, usually one-hour flights. It’s the fastest-growing segment of the industry. Very fuel-efficient, high-tech. Very nice carbon nose—” The others all looked at him as he spoke except for Ezra who was writing things down. “—It’s got the titanium wrap, 3 to 1. You know, you pick up things here and there.” Chris said, walking behind the couch the others were sitting on.  
“You pick up a lot of stuff.” JD said.  
Vin laughed at that, making Buck look over at him in confusion.  
“And check this out. Now, Royal and Travis, they were head-to-head for five years trying to grab the lead in an industry that’s worth, like, eleventy billion dollars.” JD said.  
“So Travis got there first. Royal took the shortcut.” Vin concluded.  
“So he’s got a rival.” Chris smiled, “He’s got a rival that pisses him off so much he hired us to steal his designs. This is good.”  
“What are you thinking Mr. Larabee?” asked Ezra, looking up at him.  
“I’m thinking Nigerians. Yeah. Nigerians will do nicely.”

Chris walked off, leaving the rest to sit on the couch. Ezra played with his pen. The others looked at him once Chris was out of the room.  
“Well, he hasn’t changed a bit.” Ezra murmured before going back to his writing.

 

LLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

Royal was walking to his office when his secretary called him.  
“Your 9:00 is here.”  
“My?” Royal turned and saw an immaculately dressed man sitting in a chair. The man had his hands folded in his knee which was crossed over the other. His three-piece suit was cut to his body, and had a sleek gray tie matching his suit color.  
Royal felt like he did a double take when he heard the man speak with an African accent.  
“Mr. Royal, Andrew Simms. African Commercial Transport and Trade Initiative.” Ezra said smoothly and held out a business card between two slender fingers. Royal looked at the card.

 

JD sat down in front of his computer with Chris walking behind him.  
“Here comes a mountain of suck.” JD muttered.

“You government?” asked Royal, walking to his room.  
Ezra followed him at a casual pace. “No, no. Private business consortium. We’re looking to encourage infrastructure development and economic renewal.” He strolled over to window and looked out to the street below.  
“I have no idea what that means in English.” Royal confessed. “What does it mean?”  
Ezra looked back towards the man with a smile, “In short, we create jobs and trade in Africa, keep the graft and the stealing manageable.”

“He’s not awful.” JD said in wonder.  
“This is his stage. Ezra Standish is the finest actor you’ve ever seen… when he’s breaking the law.” Chris said.

“Keeping grafting and stealing manageable in Africa. Good luck. I don’t think I can help. I don’t think any human being on Earth can help you with that. Sorry.” Guy said.  
Ezra chuckled, “Come on. How about we talk somewhere a little less formal?”  
He began walking out the room, while Royal was trying to find a way to refuse. Instead however, he ended up following Standish.

 

“Okay, and now.” Chris ordered.  
JD began working on his computer and shut down the secretary’s computer down. The secretary began frantically trying to restore her computer but with no luck.  
She then began calling for help.  
Vin, who was in the vents, intercepted the call.  
“Hello I.T.”  
“Yes, this is Guy Royal’s office. My computer just completely crashed.”  
“I’m sorry to hear that. Have you tried turning it on and off again?”

“That’s a computer thing. I told him to say that?” JD grinned up at Chris proudly.  
“Well done.”

“We’ve got someone on your floor already.” Vin finished.  
The secretary thanked him before hanging up. A few minutes later Buck walked in with a short sleeve dress shirt that was tucked in, tie, and his glasses on.  
“Someone call I.T.”

 

“I represent a group of investors who are looking to start an airline for short-haul flights in Africa.” Ezra said as he walked Royal down by the river.  
“Out of Johannesburg?” asked Guy.

 

“Okay, he’s testing you. You want Bloemfontein.” Chris instructed. JD looked over his shoulder up at Chris.

“Keep away from the hubs, revitalize the regional airports. In South Africa, Bloemfontein, for example. But really, it’s Nigeria we’re focused on.” Ezra said smoothly.

“Yes, perfect.” Chris nodded.

“Lagos airport runways are a mess.” Guy said.  
“I believe new airplanes will make people feel comfortable while we renew old runways.”  
“Uh-huh. I don’t recall saying anything about new airplanes.”  
“Guy, both you and your chief engineer are scheduled to speak at your shareholders meeting.”   
“I think you know more about my business than I do.”  
“I’ve done my homework.” Ezra nodded. “I find you fascinating.”  
Guy scoffed, feeling flattered.

Vin pulled the screen away and silently dropped into the office. Buck was right outside flirting with the secretary.  
“Shouldn’t I be playing the computer guy?” asked JD indignantly.  
“No, I want you to actually be the computer guy.” Chris said, still pacing behind JD.

Vin got onto the computer in the office and plugged in the device he had gotten from JD. He then wiped everything off the computer before placing a listening device under the desk.

 

Buck finished rebooting the computer and didn’t stop from placing his hand over hers to move the mouse.  
“You are strong for a computer guy.” She remarked, looking at his muscles.  
“Thank you.” Buck said, taking off his glasses. “I like to work out. I’m trying to stay big. I love dressing up like a Klingon. Going to all the conventions, you know. Baghk-lah! Sorry.” He apologized.  
“That’s okay. Baghk-lah!” she repeated.  
“Don’t you tease me.” He said with a smile.

 

“Hold up, dude. That’s not—that’s not cool. That is not cool. We’re gonna have a strong talk when you get back.”

Vin finished up what he was doing and left the way he came through the vents. Buck continued to flirt a little longer.

“Uh, is it—sorry, is it ‘Simpson’?” asked Guy, “I’m sorry.”  
“Simms.” Ezra and Guy said at the same time.  
“I’m really sorry.”  
“Andrew, please.” Ezra said with a smile.  
“Andrew, okay. How’s this? If we announce a new product, then you can order as many as your heart desires.”  
Ezra turned to rest his back against the railing.

 

“Okay, you know what to do. Hit him.” Chris instructed.

“We were also planning on building the planes. More jobs. Build them in Africa, fly them in Africa, sell the rest around the world.”  
“That’s very ambitious. You have the manufacturing facilities to do all that?”  
“We can easily raise the money to build the facilities.” Ezra said confidently, “If we know for certain we’re going to get the contracts.”

 

“Nice.” Chris nodded as he listened on comms.

 

“Andrew, I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you.” Guy said.

JD sighed, “It was a nice try.”  
“Wait for it.” Chris said. He knew Ezra well enough that the man could talk anyone into anything. The opening act wasn’t over yet.

“I understand.” Ezra nodded with a straight face. “I’ll just take it to Travis then.”   
That made Guy stop and JD and Chris look up.

“Piers—Travis. No, Travis’s a great company. Sure, go ahead. I don’t think they can help you, but—”  
“No, they have a reputation for long-term investment. You however…They’re innovators. Yes, it’s probably a better fit.” Ezra threw out the bait in a way that Royal couldn’t back down.  
“I’m aware that you’re manipulating me, Andrew.”  
“I should hope so.” Ezra grinned, showing his gold tooth. “Hundreds of millions of dollars in new contracts, a lot of good press—all at your door.” He said temptingly.  
“Okay, I give up. I’ll take the meeting.”  
Guy went in for a handshake, but Ezra was already moving.  
“I’ll have my office call you then.”  
“Huh? Uh yeah.”  
“In two days good?”  
“Yeah, sure. Look forward to doing business with you.” He stammered as Ezra continued to walk away.

Chris patted JD on the back in triumph. The two shook hands.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

“Hey Chris.” Called JD from his computer later on that night. Chris walked over to him. “Got all his financials off his hard drive, all his passwords.”   
Chris patted him on the back before walked back over to the pole table where he and Buck were playing a game. Vin was busily trying on the new comm piece that JD had made.  
“Your shot.” Buck said, handing over the stick. He also offered him a beer.  
“I’m fine. No thanks. 5, corner.”  
After he had took his turn Buck spoke up.  
“You look better. Then when we first began.”  
“Yeah.”  
“And that bothers you, huh?”  
“Well, I mean, this isn’t supposed to feel…”  
“Good?” Buck offered with a smile. Chris thought about it. “It’s not that hard to figure out. Royal screwed you. He cheated by stealing from that other company, and your good-guy brain sees him as the bad guy. Your conscience is clear.”  
“You want to take your shot?” asked Chris, not wanting to talk about him and his morals which he was questioning already.  
Buck nodded and drank some of his beer.  
“Listen, I’m sorry about your kid.”  
“You don’t know anything about that.” Chris said seriously.  
“Everybody knows. Guy like you goes off the street, a lot of people notice.” Buck remembered when it had happened. Chris Larabee was just that well known among the thieves. “And it was a bad story, too. How do they justify that, huh, the insurance company just not paying for his treatment?”

Chris stood outside of the operating room, tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched helplessly as the doctors tried to save his son.  
“B.P.’s dropping.” Said one of the nurses.  
He could see his son fading so quickly.

“They claimed it was experimental.” Chris muttered.  
Buck scoffed, no child should ever have to die, especially when there was a chance to save them. “Should’ve kept one of those Monets you found. You fence that—”  
“Buck, you and I are not friends.” Chris said gruffly. Talking about what could’ve been was no help. That and he was the good guy.  
Buck saw that this was not a topic to tread on. The man was just not ready yet.  
“Right. Right. ‘cause you have so many of them.” Buck said before walking off. “Incoming.” He nodded towards Ezra.

Ezra walked up to Chris who was still staring off.  
“Do you think you could assist me in understanding how this thing works?” Ezra said, looking at the contraption.  
“Why don’t you ask JD?” Chris said with a grumble and walked off.

 

LLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Two days passed and it was time for the next act.  
Chris sat outside a coffee shop where he was keeping an eye out for Royal. A sleek black car pulled up.  
“Ezra, he’s on site.” Chris said into his comm.

“What?” asked Ezra, he was still organizing the people upstairs in the conference room. “No, I’m still unprepared.”

Royal had walked through the rotating doors.

“If you don’t meet him right now in the lobby, he’s gonna go to the building directory and look for the office number. Guys, we aren’t in the building directory.” Chris said urgently.

 

Buck who was taking the stairs frowned, “And why aren’t we in the directory?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe because they’re fake offices.” JD pointed out. He was sitting outside with Chris.

Ezra made his way quickly to the elevators and pushed the button to take him down.   
“There’s no elevator.” He reported.

Chris got up from his seat, “Alright, I’ll try to create a distraction. Tanner, you got 10 seconds to get Ezra to the lobby.”

Vin opened the door to the stairwell. “Ez!” he hissed.  
Ezra turned and quickly followed him.  
“What’s going on?”  
“Put this on.” Vin instructed.  
“For what purpose?”  
“Speed.” Tanner grinned.  
Buck pushed pass them with the sign he was carrying and went to work in switching them around.

 

Chris pulled out police stick from his pocket and went up to the first car. He smashed the windows on it before moving to the next one. The alarms of the cars began to blare, creating a loud noise.  
People from inside the building began to move towards the windows to see what was going on.  
Chris then walked away, hiding his stick.

 

Vin hooked his line to the cable that he had installed earlier.  
Ezra looked over the edge of the barrier for the stairs and immediately regretted it. He watched as Vin hooked him into the same cable as his.

Royal went over to the directory to try and type in the office name.

Buck finished drilling in the sign before disappearing.

 

Vin strapped Ezra to the front of him and without even asking to see if Ezra was ready, launched them downwards. Ezra screamed the whole way, thinking that any second now, the line would break.

Ezra came out of the stairwell, feeling nauseous, but cleared his throat and walked over to Royal who was typing at the directory.  
“Our offices are on the 10th floor.” Ezra said, in his African accent.  
Guy followed Ezra to the elevators and he pushed the button to send them up.  
“One other thing, the gentlemen bringing you this opportunity to work with their government, they’ll expect some compensation.”  
“Oh.” Royal nodded.  
“Not a bribe, of course.”  
“No, no. A finder’s fee.”  
“Exactly.”  
Guy looked at Ezra with interest. “I thought your job was to eliminate graft and stealing.”  
“No. My job is to keep it manageable.” Ezra said, not letting the man twist his words.

Ezra led him to the conference room where a team of Nigerians were already there.  
After the pleasantries were over they all sat down.

Vin joined JD and Chris outside at their table.  
“Nice job on the zip line.” Chris said.  
Vin put his feet up on the table and crossed them. “Totally though he was gonna break a leg.” He chuckled, “Not bad for his first time though.”

 

Chris went back to listening to the conversation going on in the inside. “He’s closing it up.”  
“So what do you think?” asked Royal.  
“Yes, absolutely. We can definitely repurpose those factories.”  
“Great.” Guy nodded.  
“I believe we will be able to do a lot of business together, sir.” Said the representative of the group.  
“About the other matter.” Ezra said, his manicured hands running over the table.  
The Nigerian nodded, “Of course.”  
He pulled out an envelope which Ezra got up and retrieved before coming back to sit next to Royal and handing it to him.  
Guy opened it up under the table and saw that it read 1 million dollars.  
“Is that agreeable?” Ezra asked.  
“Oh I think we can work something out.” Guy smiled.  
“Excellent.” Ezra smiled.

Ezra walked him out to his car and when he was gone the others stepped up by his side.  
“We got him?” asked Chris.  
“We own him.” Ezra grinned, his southern drawl coming back.  
“Okay, gang, let’s go. We got a busy day tomorrow.” Chris said before walking again. The others fell into step behind him.  
“This is gonna work, correct?” asked Ezra.  
“I guarantee it.” Chris said without hesitating.

 

“This is insane. We’re risking everything.” Said Royal’s assistant, Bob Spikes, as he followed his boss into his office.  
Guy hushed him.   
“We already took a chance by stealing the plans.” The Spikes continued.  
Royal showed him under his desk the hidden radio that Vin had placed there.  
They both got back up and left the office, making sure to close it.  
“What is that?”  
“It’s a transmitter, and they’ve been listening to everything that I’ve been saying.”  
“Who are they?”  
“Who do you think?” Royal said as he pulled out a photo that had been taken of Chris talking to Ezra. “Also, I’ve checked. There’s no office for the African Commercial Trade Initiative anywhere in the city. They’ve been hustling me, and I know exactly what they’re doing.” He said confidently. “Tomorrow it stops. Get the FBI on the phone.”  
“Yes sir.”  
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

“You sure you know what they’re doing?” asked his Spikes the next day.  
“Yeah, they’re pissed. I get that. They want to make me pay. I mean, an opportunity like this the same week as the shareholders’ meeting. The bug, the fake offices, cash bribes, Nigerians, for god’s sake! Nigerians. I mean, it’s like those email scams with Nigerian bank-fraud letters. Who the hell do they think I am? Some—some dog they can lead around?! They’re gonna find out exactly how wrong they are!”

 

The team packed their bags with the last of their gear before moving out.

Royal gave his speech in the conference room to the board about his ‘new project’.

The Nigerians made their way to Royal Aerospace.

Everything was in place as Ezra welcomed the Nigerians and led them to where they could find Royal who had finished his presentation and was with the shareholders.

Classic music played and expensive champagne was served as members of the shareholders talked amongst each other.  
Royal talked with one of his shareholders about the stock’s going up 15 points already since his announcement. He felt pretty confident.

Ezra approached their table. “Well, aren’t you the cat that ate the canary.” Ezra said in his convincing accent. He gave the man a smile.  
“Does it show.” Guy smiled back, pretty pleased that he knew what this man was about.  
“Horrible poker face.” Ezra said, and he should know. He was excellent when it came to poker faces.  
“Why don’t we get this done?” Guy suggested.  
“Now?”  
“Yeah.”  
“You have the whole payment?”  
“Absolutely. I think we should make the deal. I want to make the announcement get even bigger headlines.”  
Ezra had to look away, to hide what was probably a smile. The man wasn’t lying when he said he had a horrible poker face.  
“I’ll take them into the conference room, away from all this. Go, go, go, go. Let’s do it.”  
Ezra only nodded before going back to speak with the Nigerians.

 

“Gentlemen, now, everybody come in, sit down, relax, make yourselves comfortable.” Royal said as he made his way up to the front.  
“I assume we all understand the terms of this agreement.” Said the representative of the group.  
“Well, I’ll tell you. The exact terms of the agreement,” Royal bent down and pressed a button, “Are these.”  
“FBI. Don’t move.” Said a uniformed man who was followed by a woman wearing the same uniform jacket.  
“Are you alright sir?” asked a man coming up behind Royal.  
“No, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. Everything’s perfectly—” Royal felt two men grab his arms as another man stood in front of him. “What? What are you? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let go of me.” He pulled his arms away. “What are you looking at me for? The criminals are sitting right there. Look at them.” Guy pointed to the Nigerians. “Listen, I spoke to special Agent Bryce. If you call him on the phone—”  
“I’m special Agent Bryce.” Said the agent in front of him holding up his badge, “Guy Royal, you are under arrest for soliciting a bribe from these Nigerian government officials.”  
“I’m not—these are not even Nigerians!”  
“Of course we are.” The representative said, holding up his ID that stated the fact.  
“No, no, no.”  
“Your man knew that when she contacted us last week.” Continued the man.  
“My man? Andrew?” Guy looked around for the man but he wasn’t there anymore. “Andrew!” Royal cleared his throat, “Special Agent Bryce, Andrew Simms works for them.”  
“Ridiculous!” said the Nigerian, “He contacted us on your behalf.”  
“He told us he worked directly under you, now.” Said another Nigerian.

The day before where they met at the fake offices Ezra greeted the Nigerians with a smile.   
“Andrew Simms from Royal Aerospace, directly under Guy Royal.” Ezra handed the man a business card.

“He took me to their office.” Guy stammered.  
“No, we do not have an office in this city.”   
“Exactly!”  
“He took us to your other office.”

Buck finished putting up the sign for Royal Aerospace and walked away just before the Nigerians came and were greeted by Ezra.

Royal could feel himself being slowly trapped. Then he remembered the people downstairs. “The shareholders.” He pushed pass the FBI agents and ran back downstairs.  
Outside, sirens went off as the building was being surrounded. The people at the event looked around in confusion as FBI agents ran to contain everybody to keep them from leaving. Other agents went inside to secure the building.

“Uh, everybody, can I have your attention?” called Royal, pushing his way through the crowd. “It’s just a permit problem.” He lied.  
“Guy, what’s going on?” asked the shareholder he had been speaking to earlier.  
“They sent the wrong people. I can explain, Stuart. It’s just a simple mistake.”  
“Anybody else here involved in the bribe?” asked Bryce, getting the point that Royal was skirting around.  
“Bribe?!”  
“There’s no bribe! No bribe.” Guy denied.  
“I handed this man an envelope containing a cashier’s check for $200.000.”  
“No, no, no, no. I wasn’t handed—” Guy stopped and realized what the envelope he had gotten.

The Nigerian had handed Ezra the envelope with the cashier’s check, on the way back to Royal, he had switched it for another and handed him that one.

Guy looked up at the glaring Nigerian.  
“This would look a lot better for you if you didn’t deposit that check.” Said Bryce. “Do you still have it?”  
“I didn’t get a check.” Said Guy.  
“Sir, we’ve got people searching the lab, seizing those files and computers.” Said another agent.  
“Good job.” Said Bryce, ready to walk away.  
“News crews are here. If they find out.” Said Stuart to Royal.  
“Bryce, Bryce, you can’t do that!” said Royal, “You can’t take my computer.”  
Bryce scoffed, “This company has government defense contracts. There’s very serious rules concerning contact with foreign nationals. The Patriot Act applies here, my friend. Sir, I can take your underpants.”  
“It’s getting a little aggressive.” Guy said, trying to calm things down. “Phillip, this is Stuart James. These are—these gentlemen are from Nigeria. Everybody just take it easy, relax. I’ll be back to explain things.”

Spikes was up in the offices shredding things as quickly as possible.  
“Guy’s we need to hurry and get rid of this stuff.”  
He picked up one of the boxes and started dumping the shredded papers out the window.  
“Keep shredding, keep shredding. Help me!” he ordered.

 

Chris and his men, all dressed in the FBI jacket came out of the building with boxes and the hard drives that were most important while the other agents went in.

LLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

Chris met Travis in an abandoned room. The man was standing by the window.  
“I came alone.”  
“Yes, I know. Thank you, Mr. Travis.” Chris stepped up beside the man, “Now I hear your research was completely wiped out. I have complete copies right on these hard drives. Along with absolute proof that they were on Royal Aerospace computers. That should be good for a couple of lawsuits.”  
“I dropped the investigation.” Said Travis. “Against all parties involved in the original theft.”  
Chris shrugged, “That seems fair. You get your property back.”  
“Agreed. No charges, nothing on you or your people.” Travis nodded. Chris handed him the hard drive and walked away. “Don’t you want money?”  
“This particular project has a different revenue stream.” Chris grinned.

 

Royal sat in his office as agents around him cleared everything. He watched the news as the stock for Royal Aerospace went down 33% before trading was halted. His phone rang and he absentmindedly answered it after the third ring.  
“Yeah.” He said dejectedly.  
“Yeah you should’ve just paid us.” Chris said from his end.  
Guy sat up in his seat. “I found the transmitter.”  
“No, you found the transmitter with the blinking light. Yeah, we wanted you to figure some of it out, and then we just gave you what you were expecting.” Chris said smugly.  
“I am Guy Royal. I’m gonna beat this.” He snarled.  
“Aren’t you forgetting the bribe?” asked Chris.  
“Who cares? Can’t prove anything. I didn’t get any money.”  
“Got it.” Said one of the agents as he finally got the safe open and pulled out stacks of cash.  
“Yeah, no, it doesn’t account for all of it. Ezra kept a little to buy a truly impressive number of suits.” Chris murmured.

The rest of the team walked through Millennium park to meet up with Chris who was coming off the snake bridge. Ezra was wearing one of his new suits that he had just bought.  
“What is it with you and your suits?” Vin asked confusion, he himself was wearing an old worn jacket that was his favorite.  
Ezra looked Vin over. “There’s something wrong with you.” He murmured.  
“That’s what I said.” Buck jumped at the opportunity of having someone else who agreed with him on this point.  
Ezra wasn’t about to say that Buck’s long sleeve shirts and vest were not all that better, instead he kept his comments to himself.  
“You see, if a company’s stock price falls 10%, 15% in one day and you see it coming, you sell short, you make a lot of money.” Chris said, still talking to Guy, “If it’s gonna fall 30%, you can make shattering amounts of money. We didn’t need the FBI to take you to jail. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office. All day long.”  
Royal looked up at the screen and watched the cameras focusing on the FBI taking away boxes of papers.  
“In front of TV cameras. Scaring your investors. No, you going to jail is just a bonus. I’m sure you know if you say anything about us to the feds, the next time we won’t be so nice.” Chris finished before ending the call.  
The agent behind Guy asked who he had been talking to, and all he could say was no one.  
Chris joined the others who were just getting their payment handed out by JD.  
Ezra was shocked at the amount.  
“Job well –” Chris stopped what he was saying and looked at the amount. “Whoa.”  
Everyone looked at JD for an explanation.  
“There was an overlap in the London stock market. Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and then—I’m just very good at what I do.”  
“This is the score.” Vin said seriously. “The score.”  
“Age of the geek, baby.” JD grinned.  
Buck was grinned wildly, “Somebody kiss this kid so I don’t have to.”  
“So we’re out. Huh?” asked JD. “I mean, we’re out. This is retirement money. ‘Go legit and buy an island’ money.”  
Chris cleared his throat, “Yeah, uh, pleasure working with you all.”  
“Yeah, one show only. No encores.” Buck said, not really feeling all that happy anymore.  
“I already forgot your names.” Vin said, but that was impossible for him now that he knew these men. They’d be hard to forget.  
Chris could feel the hesitation among them and decided he’d take the first step and walk away. The others split up too in different directions.

Chris was walking for about five minutes when he heard JD.  
“You know; I’ve never had that cool of a time on a job.”  
“It’s a walk away.” Chris reminded the younger man who began following him.  
“And I got focus issues.” JD continued, “Dude, you kept me right on.”  
“I’m really good at one thing.” Vin said, coming up on Chris’s other side.  
“Tanner.”  
“Only one thing, that’s it, but you—you know other things. And—and I can’t stop doing my one thing, can’t retire.”  
“Want to know what I think?” asked Buck. Coming to take JD’s place beside Chris.  
“Not really.”  
Buck continued anyway, “How long before you fall apart again?”  
“Oh I’m touched.” Chris said sarcastically.  
“Yeah, well, a guy like you can’t be out of the game, all right? That’s why you were a wreck. You need the chase.”  
Chris heard his phone ringing, saving him from saying anything else besides that he’d manage. He answered it gratefully.  
“Yeah?” he said into the phone.  
He looked ahead and found Ezra seated on a bench with his phone up to his ear. Chris sighed as Ezra walked towards them.  
“You pick the jobs.” Ezra offered.  
“My job is helping people.” Chris pointed out. “I find bad guys.”  
“Go find some bad guys then. Bad guys have money. Black king. White knight.”  
Chris smiled

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Took a while to finish it, but I did start in the summer and took a long break in between. Hoped you liked it.


End file.
